


Molar Opposites

by Arlene0401



Series: erurirentober 2018 [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anesthesia, Dentists, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 05:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16152974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlene0401/pseuds/Arlene0401
Summary: Eren hates dentists. But with this bugger of a molar torturing him, he has no choice but to turn to Dr Smith for help. He's about to have his hatred cured in very unconventional and effective ways.





	Molar Opposites

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for [erurirentober](http://erurirenevents.tumblr.com/post/178520300898/october-will-be-eruriren-tober-we-decided-to-put), day 1 - "teeth".

Eren hated dentists. Hated, hated hated them. He meticulously kept his teeth clean so he wouldn’t be bothered by caries or gingivitis or other unpleasantness.

And yet, on a Sunday morning he awoke with a throbbing cheek the size of a tennis ball. He tried rinsing his mouth with sage tea, put on ice packs, even sunk so low as chewing on a clove only to spit it out again with a pained cry.

The night was absolutely miserable. The prescription free painkillers in his medicine chest did fuck all to grant him a little rest.

On Monday morning, he caved in and searched for a dentist. The mere thought of making an appointment had his heart racing, but it was still preferable to his current suffering. There was a Dr Smith, pretty close by, who advertised that he treated patients with anxiety. That sounded promising. Still, typing the number into his phone felt like hiring a contract killer for himself. The feeling intensified tenfold when, after describing his symptoms, he was asked to walk in right away. 

Shit.

On the bright side it didn’t leave him with much time to get worked up, but as he put on his shoes and jacket and started his car he thought that his own assassination had just been fast forwarded because the henchman had an empty slot in his schedule.

Dr Smith’s clinic was decorated in soothing green and earth tones, and a friendly receptionist walked him through the paperwork. The tone in which she asked him about his levels of discomfort and anxiety was, much to his relief, free of judgement. 

“I’m afraid that you’ll have to wait a few minutes until Dr Smith can see you. We like to keep our patients waiting as little as possible, but with walk-in cases we can only do so much,” she said and directed him to the waiting room. Eren was surprised she bothered to apologise, having fully prepared to be subjected to several hours of waiting. The waiting room was busy, but indeed the clinic seemed to function like a clockwork. Several patients had barely taken a seat before they were called to their appointment. Eren had only around fifteen minutes to wring his hands and bounce his leg and feel cold sweat seeping into his shirt.

Finally, a black haired man appeared in the doorway. “Mr Jagger, please,” he said to the room in general. No one reacted. “Mr Jagger.” he repeated the name slightly louder. When no one moved again, he looked down at the file in his hand and reached for the reading glasses dangling on a chain around his neck. “Oh. Mr Jaeger?”

Against his will, Eren felt a giggle rise in his chest. “Uh, that would be me.”

“Would you now.” The man regarded him over the rim of his glasses. “In that case, please follow me.” Reluctantly, Eren rose to his feet and lurched across the room. A tiny smile flickered over the man’s face and was gone just as fast. “Relax, we’re not going to slaughter you. Levi Ackerman, your dental assistant for today. I will have a look at your teeth before we call the boss.”

Standing right in front of him, Eren realised that Levi was shorter than himself. And gorgeous in an unconventional kind of way. He was full of contradictions. Sharp, angular features with a soft mouth, pale skin shadowed by jet black hair. Eyes in a cool shade of grey that still conveyed warmth. When he turned around to lead the way, Eren was graced with a view of broad shoulders that strained against the clinic’s uniform t-shirt, and a pert, round, perfect ass. 

With a rush of heat he became aware that in a minute or so this man would be right in his face. Jesus. Had he brushed his teeth thoroughly enough? He had slacked a bit on the left side of his lower jaw, the pain had been too intense there. Did his breath reek? Would Levi think he was a disgusting slob? 

The examination room was dominated by the chair. Being upholstered in pretty green leather didn’t keep it from oozing the sinister air of a torture machine. Eren edged into the seat and eyed the assortment of gleaming instruments already lined up on the swivelling tray attached to the chair. Levi busied himself in snapping on gloves and putting on a paper mask, and when he turned around to find Eren perched on the seat with one buttcheek as if the thing would bite him if he moved, his eyes crinkled up.

“You know, it’s more comfortable if you actually sit down and lean back.” He sat down on a rolling stool and moved closer. After fastening a paper napkin around Eren’s neck, he patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Okay, for starters, I will examine your teeth so we already have an idea what we’re dealing with when Dr Smith comes. I will use this probe -” he showed Eren the instrument “ - it looks sharp, but don’t worry, it won’t do any damage to your teeth. Now, can you please open up?” He reached up to flick on the overhead lamp and adjusted it.

“I - I didn’t brush my teeth properly. Where it hurts. I’m sorry if… if…” Eren blurted out before he could stop himself.

Levi chuckled. “Good thing I wear this mask then, what? It’s okay, we see all kinds of mouths here. And smell them. Today, let’s focus on the tooth that’s giving you trouble. If I notice anything lacking in your dental hygiene, we’ll make a proper appointment for that.”

He raised the probe and a dental mirror, and Eren obediently opened his mouth. Directing him to open farther or turning his head this way or that, Levi methodically went around Eren’s lower jaw.

“The receptionist marked in your file that you haven’t seen a dentist in a while, is that correct?” Eren made an affirmative noise.

“I expected to see something much, much worse. You have excellent dentition. A bit of scale here and there. So - this is the nasty one, right?” Levi prodded the molar very, very lightly, and Eren jumped almost clear off the seat. “Bingo. Does it hurt that bad?” He took the instruments from Eren’s mouth so he could answer.

“It’s… I was more startled than anything.”

“Okay. If anything gets too painful you let me know, right?” Levi continued to examine the troublemaker from all sides. “Looks like a cavity. I’ll look at your upper jaw now so we have a complete check. Hold on, I’m lowering the chair.”

Having Levi explain every single step in a calm voice gradually eased Eren’s fear. But now, lying almost flat on his back with Levi hovering very close to examine his upper jaw made him acutely aware of their proximity again. He could feel the warmth of Levi’s body and smell him. Some subtle, fresh body wash and laundry detergent, pleasant and clean. He also couldn’t look anywhere because Levi’s face was right in front of him, and although the man was entirely focused on Eren’s teeth it felt rude to stare. So he closed his eyes and tried very hard to think of Levi’s face being only centimeters away and that he could just reach up and pull his mask down to reveal those soft lips and they were almost in kissing distance and… instead he recited an internal mantra. Do not get aroused. Do not get aroused. Do not -

“Did you want to say anything?”

Eren’s eyes flew open. “No! I didn’t - I’m fine, everything is just fine!” The fierce burning of his cheeks betrayed that everything was clearly not fine. Levi’s gaze remained on him for a moment, and so he just closed his eyes and opened his mouth again. Hoping against hope that Levi wouldn’t notice the raging pulse in the veins of his neck.

After a couple of more minutes Levi was finished. “There, all done for now. That wasn’t so bad, was it? You’re terribly tense. Do you need a break?”

Without being aware of it, Eren had become stiff as a plank and balled his hands to fists so tight that the knuckles turned white. Levi touched his arm, clearly concerned, and Eren almost laughed hysterically. If only he knew that his condition had little to do with the examination and everything with the damnably attractive dental hygienist. He shook his head, and Levi rolled over to the counter, clicked on the intercom and called for Dr Smith.

Eren sighed in relief. With the dentist being around, Levi would have to retreat to second row and out of Eren’s focus. It would be incredibly bad luck if Dr Smith -

“Hello, Mr Jaeger.”

Speak of the devil. And what a particularly handsome devil this specimen was. Physically the polar opposite of Levi, tall, blond, with an open, boyish face and a bright smile. How could they be so different and yet both score a ten on Eren’s thirst scale? Dr Smith’s handshake was firm and warm, and Eren tried not to melt his way through the chair while Levi rattled of his medical details in that incomprehensible dentist’s shorthand that sounded like a spare auto part catalogue.

Dr Smith nodded and slipped on gloves and a mask. “Let’s have a look at this little rascal then, shall we? How devious to plague you on a weekend.” He inspected the bothersome tooth, asked Levi to make an x-ray and finally declared that Eren indeed had a cavity that needed to be cleaned and filled. Eren felt close to crying. 

Dr Smith patted his hand. “I promise it won’t hurt. Luckily, anaesthetics are a thing. In your case, I suggest we use a nitrous oxide sedation.”

“That’s laughing gas, right?”

“Yes. We often use it on patients with anxiety, because it not only suppresses the pain, but it also calms and relaxes. You will be conscious and able to communicate, but experience no discomfort. For short interventions, it beats any injection by miles.”

“No needles?”

“No needles! You just have to inhale the gas through a nose mask. Once the mask is off, the effect wears off after a couple of minutes.”

Again, Eren almost cried, this time with relief, and it was hard, so very hard not to wrap his arms around Dr Smith’s remarkable shoulders and weep. Or fall on his knees and kiss the man’s feet. Among other things.

Levi got the mask ready and gave Eren more detailed explanations while Dr Smith prepared the drill of doom and everything else he would need.

Eren felt ridiculous with the mask on his nose that sprouted tubes in every direction, inhaling something he could not smell. He didn’t feel any different either. He was just about to ask if they had somehow set him up or given him the wrong gas when it hit him. Despite their best efforts to comfort him - or rather, _because_ of their best efforts to comfort him - he had been terribly tense, but now his muscles relaxed. His worry of embarrassing himself in front of these gorgeous men flew right out the window. His fear of the drill of doom was gone. Eren felt _great_.

“Do you already notice something, Mr Jaeger? How do you feel?” Levi asked.

“Eren. Please call me Eren,” he purred. “I feel fantastic.”

“That’s nice. We can get started then.”

“How could I not, when two Adonises are attending to me.” Eren giggled. “Adonises. Is that a word? I could get used to that, you know? God, you’re both so beautiful it hurts.”

“Well thank you Mr Jaeger, but now we should -”

“Eren. What’s your first name, doc? I can hardly call you Doctor on our wedding day. Right? Doctor, darling. And you,” he swivelled around to point at Levi, “you must marry me too, Levi. You have the most beautiful ass I’ve ever seen, and want to see it every day for the rest of my life.”

“Yes, fine, we can discuss the details later. Now be a good boy and let me repair your tooth.”

“Little oral fixation there, that’s alright, I can work with that. Bring it on, big guy, hit me with your worst.” Eren winked, and then Levi must have adjusted the dosage. He drifted off into pleasant dreams of white suits and silken sheets and only hit the ground again when the inhalation mask was removed from his face. 

Eren shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts, and Levi pressed a glass of water in his hand. “Easy does it. Give it a couple of minutes to wear off.” Dr Smith was disassembling the drill and Levi cleared up the waste and used instruments, both looking mildly amused.

“It could be that your jaw still feels a little sore, but by tomorrow that should be gone, otherwise you can call again. And I have seen you have really healthy teeth, but i’d recommend regular checkups anyway. You can ask the receptionist to set a schedule for you and send you a reminder when the time’s up.” Dr Smith had removed his paper mask again, and Eren could see the corners of his mouth curling up.

With dawning horror, he recalled what he had said and done while under sedation. Sure, he was supposed to feel happy and relaxed, and both professionals had probably seen their fair share of silly behaviour. But a patient foregoing all filters and straight out hitting on them? Eren groaned and buried his face in his hands. So much for finding a dental clinic he actually felt comfortable with. He could never show his face here again.

“Oh my God.”

“Did you honestly go _that_ far up?”

Eren shot Levi a glare, but then remembered he was supposed to be apologising. “Erm… Dr Smith, Mr Ackerman - I’m awfully sorry for my inappropriate behaviour.”

“As you should be.” Levi suddenly looked very stern and crossed his arms. “Making advances at a person in their workplace is gross and unprofessional. Let alone hitting on someone’s _husband_.”

Husband? Well, it figured. Men as handsome as these didn’t go unwed. But to which of them did Levi refer? Eren’s eyes wandered from one to the other in search of a wedding band. With a smirk, the doctor and his assistant held their left hands up. They both wore wedding rings. _Matching_ wedding rings.

Oh, dear.

“Is it maybe possible to set this inhalator to a lethal dose? You can just dump my body in the trash container, thanks. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“What, after I just restored you to perfection, Eren? No way.” Dr Smith fished a small card from his pants pocket and held it out to Eren. “Levi said not to hit on people at their workplace,” he leaned closer and smiled, “but you’re perfectly welcome to hit on them in private.”

A minute later Eren found himself alone in the clinic hallway, wondering if he had only dreamed the whole thing. But no, the card in his fingers was very real. Dr Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman, an address and a phone number. Eren pocketed it and grinned. On his way home he surfed on clouds, and they were not gas induced.


End file.
